Cindi Ellison’s rehomed and rescued menagerie

Susan EspirituOur Town Youth, West Knoxville

A few weeks ago, I told you about Cindi Ellison, the master gardener and extraordinary educator of 41 years. I half mentioned in passing her love for animals. Well, let me take you back to Cindi the animal rescuer who never met an animal she wouldn’t rescue or rehome, albeit a gecko, tarantula, guinea pig, hedgehog or puppy.

Not in order: 3 hedgehogs (Carl, Hedgie, Quillan), a guinea pig (S’mores), a leopard gecko (Princess Leia), a tarantula (Darth Vader), a dog (Woody), a cat (Mollie)

Cindi says, “If there is a stray animal, or one that needs to be rehomed or fixed, I’ll find it or it’ll come to me.”

Quillan, pictured, has been with her for about a month, and as she says “to call it an adventure is an understatement.” She claims she had no intentions of getting another hedgehog since she already has two, Carl and Hedgie, but Quillan was abandoned in a rental home. Thankfully, she says, the landlord did feed and water him until he was released to a rescue. Nobody wanted the filthy and unsocialized pet so the rescue tagged Cindy on Facebook knowing she would take him and she did.

Cindi says that Quillan can’t stand to be held, but he is held each day to hopefully break this behavior. He’s also a mess, spilling his water daily, playing in his food, wanting nothing to do with people. She says she can hold her other two hedgehogs without gloves but not Quillan because his quills are sharp. The heart of Cindi, “I love him, and I will take care of him … someone was horrible to him. He is a life worth saving”

 All of us have a story and I want to tell yours! Send them to susan@knoxtntoday.com

 

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